Storied house plays host to a starry crowd

For the hundreds of guests sweeping into the inaugural United Cancer Front Gala, it was their first glimpse of a residence that once belonged to legendary actor Gary Cooper.

But for Maria Cooper Janis, it was a homecoming. This was the Holmby Hills house where her father, winner of best actor Oscars for “Sergeant York” and “High Noon,” died of cancer in 1961. Designed by architect A. Quincy Jones, the gated property built for Coop is now owned by GeoCities founder David Bohnett.

Along with her husband, concert pianist Byron Janis, she came from New York for the Oct. 27 soiree underwritten by Louis Vuitton and chaired by Lilly Tartikoff, whose husband, Brandon Tartikoff -- once president of NBC Entertainment -- died of cancer in 1997. “When my father was diagnosed, there was no treatment option for cancer except cobalt,” Janis recalled. “And that made a person so sick he said, ‘To hell with that. I’ll take the cards the way they’re played.’ With all the money that has been raised for cancer research, if he was diagnosed today, he might have had eight more years of quality living.”

Janis joined a starry crowd -- guests included Salma Hayek and Oscar winners Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly -- to dine on grilled filet mignon and chocolate cake under a chandelier-hung tent erected on the lawn. While visiting the property prompted some sadness, it also reminded her of a joyful time. “This is the home where I received delivery of my first car, a turquoise and white Ford on my 16th birthday,” she said.

Having raised millions of dollars on behalf of breast cancer research, Tartikoff has decided to take on fund-raising “for all body parts,” she said. Co-founded by Tartikoff and oncologist Dennis J. Slamon, United Cancer Front seeks to develop breakthrough cancer therapies by raising unrestricted funds for cutting-edge research. Using information provided by 35 research scientists from around the country, the organization will use a global Web site to “empower patients by getting out the most accurate and up-to-date cancer treatment information available,” Tartikoff said.